Quiz: Howstuffworks

Can You Match the Prophecy to What It Was Predicting?

Tasha Moore

Image: Kemter / E+ / Getty Images

About This Quiz

The Bible is a prophetic book. If you know the Bible, you ought to know its prophecies. We help you get up to speed with this prophecy quiz. Can you identify the amazing manifestations that biblical prophets predicted? Gauge your own level of prophetic wisdom with our test!

During this righteous exercise, you'll notice that most of the Bible's prophecies concern either the children of Israel or the kings who ruled over them. Don't expect lighthearted predictions here. The prophets did not hold back when it came to relaying harsh judgments that often resulted from bad behavior or disobedience to God's specific commands. Though most manifestations were rather harsh, many of them allowed people to get their act together or prepare for the inevitable. For example, prophet Jeremiah warned Zedekiah and the gentile kings that Babylon's rulership over them would not be staved. However, the consequences of rulership would not be so bad if they would simply submit. You'll find out if Zedekiah and the gentile kings heeded those predictive words.

The prophecies that we've filtered for you are mindblowing, as well as poetic. Join us as we give props to prophets, like Elisha, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, for their bravery, honesty and eloquence. It's a must that you load up on the divination of today, yesterday and tomorrow!

The angel Gabriel told Zacharias that God had heard his prayers and that he would receive a son. Whom did Gabriel predict?

Jesus

John the Baptist

Elizabeth

Judas

Luke 1 states that Zacharias and his barren wife Elisabeth were both "well stricken in years." Gabriel's prophetic words to Zacharias were, "for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son..." Zacharias and Elizabeth named their son John, as Gabriel had instructed.

Isaiah prophesied to Ahaz, king of Judah that God would give a sign, "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son..." What corresponding event took place in the book of Luke?

Ressurection of Lazarus

Parting of the Red Sea

Birth of Jesus

Last Supper

Kings Pekah and Rezin conspired against King Ahaz, saying, "Let us go up against Judah, and vex it..." Isaiah told Ahaz that God would give a sign: "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son..." In Luke, Gabriel echoes to Mary, "thou shalt conceive...and bring forth a son and...call his name Jesus."

In Acts, Agabus binds himself using Paul's girdle to get what prophetic point across?

Paul would be seized in Jerusalem.

Paul would be glorified in Jerusalem.

Agabus would be translated.

Agabus would be imprisoned.

In Acts, Agabus takes Paul's girdle and binds his own and feet, saying "So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle..." After Paul went to Jerusalem, a chief captain "commanded him to be bound with chains..."

A "man of God" counseled Eli concerning Eli's family: "The Lord God of Israel saith...the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house." Can you guess what happened?

Death of Eli's two sons

Death of Samuel

Eli's ascendancy as king

Eli's dismemberment

First Samuel explains how Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas desecrated God's house and, "The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord." A "man of God" foretold that Eli's sons would both die in one day. "The word of the Lord" was fulfilled in 1 Kings when Eli's sons were killed in battle.

Jehu prophesied to Baasha: "Him that dieth of Ahab ... the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth of the field shall the fowls of the air eat." How was this prophesy manifested?

Baasha bought a dog.

Baasha's house was destroyed.

Birds bullied Baasha's dog.

Baasha was forced to live among animals.

In 1 Kings, Baasha conspired against Nadab, and once he became king he destroyed Jeroboam's household. After Jehu's prophesy, Baasha's son Elah became king after Baasha's death. Then Elah's servant "Zimri hath, conspired and hath also slain the king."

In 1 Kings, prophet Micaiah saw "all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd." What did Micaiah predict?

A plague of sheep in Israel

Shepherds conspired to rule Israel.

Death of King Ahab

Shepherds turned into sheep upon hills of Israel

First Kings tells how Kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab formed an alliance, targeting king of Aram for the territory Ramoth-gilead. The kings waged war against the Aram king although Micaiah had prophesied against it, further saying, "Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?"

Elisha's servant Gehazi sought to take gifts offered by Naaman, whom Elisha had healed of leprosy. Elisha refused the gifts, but Gehazi told otherwise to Naaman, who responded, "Be content, take two talents." Elisha prophesied against Gehazi for the offense, and he became "a leper as white as snow."

Jeremiah saw two visions, one of "a rod of an almond tree" and another of "a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north." What did these visions foretell?

Almond trees withered in the land.

Evil broke forth among Jerusalem and Judah.

The seething pot spilled over.

Jeremiah planted 300 almond trees.

Jeremiah 1 offers these visions which Jeremiah saw concerning families of the northern kingdoms. God says unto Jeremiah, "Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all inhabitants of the land."

According to Jeremiah, the people of Judah and Jerusalem were destined to be "good for nothing" like what?

A soiled girdle

A pile of rocks

A piece of clay

A pot of gold

Jeremiah 13 explains how God tells the prophet to first wear a girdle and "put it not in water." Then God instructs Jeremiah to "go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock." The girdle, "marred...profitable for nothing" was symbolic of Judah and Jerusalem, whom God perceived as evil.

Against whom did God lay siege as prophesied through Ezekiel concerning his ordeal with a tile?

Egypt and Syria

Israel and Judah

Beirut

Kush

In Ezekiel 4, God tells the prophet to "take thee a tile...lie thou also upon thy left side" for the iniquity of Israel for 390 days and for the iniquity of Judah for 40 days. God's siege against Israel and Judah was to be a year for each day of the people's iniquity.

Through prophet Jeremiah, God said, "Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring them all the good that I have promised them." What does this prophesy refer to?

The children of Israel worship images of gold.

The restoration of Judah's fortunes

The destruction of Judah

A famine in Judah

In Jeremiah, God tells Jeremiah to buy land from his uncle Hanameel, telling him, "The right of redemption is thine to buy it." Jeremiah's purchase was to symbolize Judah's ascendancy into wealth. Through Jeremiah, God affirms, "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land."

God told Ezekiel to "prophesy unto the wind...and say to the wind...come from the four winds, O breath and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." Do you know what this, Ezekiel's dry bones prophesy, was about?

Sickness among the children of Israel

A drought in the land

Ezekiel's delirium

The rehabilitation of Israel

In Ezekiel 37, God led Ezekiel "in the midst of the valley which was full of bones...and lo, they were very dry." God informs further: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel." Through Ezekiel, God promises to bring Israel back to their land.

In Acts 5, who was Peter speaking to when he prophesied: "Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out"?

Sarah

Sapphira

Mary Magdalene

Priscilla

Ananias and his wife Sapphira "sold a possession" but conspired to "keep back part of the price of the land." Peter rebukes Ananias as "Satan," and the man "fell down and gave up the ghost." After Ananias was buried, Sapphira, not knowing what had transpired, also died after hearing Peter's rebuke.

In 1 Samuel 15, prophet Samuel says to whom, "The Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel"?

David

Solomon

Ahab

Saul

First Samuel affirms that Saul had "done foolishly" by sparing the life of King Agag of the Amalekites, a people whom God had instructed Saul to destroy utterly. God, through Samuel, says, "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he...hath not performed my commandments."

Jeremiah 24 uses the symbolism of what fruit to foretell Judah's destiny?

Fig

Apple

Pear

Lemon

Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs, "One basket had very good figs...and the other basket had very naughty figs..." Through Jeremiah, God promises: "Like these good figs...I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah." But for those who are "bad figs" will he "taunt and...curse."

Apostle Paul predicted that someone would be blind, "not seeing the sun for a season." Who eventually went blind?

Judas

Bar-jesus

Jesus

Timothy

Acts 13 refers to "deputy of the country Sergius Paulus" Bar-jesus as a "sorcerer, a false prophet." He led his people astray regarding the word of faith as delivered through Paul and Barnabas. For his misdeed, Paul rebukes Bar-jesus: "The hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind..."

"...And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." Isaiah's prophecy was about ________?

Hezekiah's sons

Camels in the kingdom

Agog's council

Babylon's maidservants

Isaiah 39 reveals the prophet's words to Hezekiah concerning Babylon's captivity of Hezekiah's house. Isaiah begins his prediction by telling Hezekiah, "All that is in thine house...shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord."

Though Babylon would lay siege to Israel, Micah predicted that a special place would rule nevertheless: "though thou be little...yet out of thee shall he come forth unto to me that is to be ruler in Israel." Can you guess the place that the prophet was referring to?

Homeland of the children of Israel

Birthplace of Jesus

Location of the first temple

Where Cain slayed Abel

In Micah, the prophet sees the end of the kings of Judah after the invasion of Babylon, saying, "Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee?" Yet, Micah predicts that Jesus's birthplace, "Bethlehem Ephratah...whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," would prevail.

To which of these kings did Jeremiah warn: "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live"?

David

Saul

Zedekiah

Absalom

God, through Jeremiah, promised that those who heeded the prophetic warning would be allowed to "remain still in their own land...and till it, and dwell therein." False prophets had advised King Zedekiah and the gentile kings incorrectly that captivity could be avoided.

What object was Ezekiel told to use to prophesy of Jerusalem's ruin?

Hammer

Hair

Mantle

Goblet

In Ezekiel, the prophet was told to cut and "divide the hair" to then predict trials of Jerusalem. These things Ezekiel was to do to the portions: "burn with fire," "smite...with a knife," scatter in the wind" for the sword, "bind...in the skirts," "cast them in the midst of fire...and burn them."

In Jeremiah, regarding Judah and Jerusalem, God promised to "break this people and this city, as one breaketh ________"?

A glass

A promise

A curse

A potter's vessel

In Jeremiah 18, God declares: "Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel." Through Jeremiah, God promises to "bring evil" among Israel "because they have forsaken [God], and have estranged this place."

Try to choose the wrong reason among the options why Moses did prophesy in the book of Deuteronomy that God's "anger shall be kindled against [the children of Israel]"?

They whored after other gods.

They broke God's covenant.

They forsook God.

They prayed for mercy.

Deuteronomy 31 confirms God's judgment against the children of Israel, which was revealed to both Moses and Joshua. God promises to "hide [his] face from them" as "[the children of Israel] shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them."

When Jeremiah predicted that King Nebuchadnezzar would "break also the images of Beth-shemesh," what images was he referring to?

Statues of Moses

Pictures of the apocalypse

Syrian idols

Egyptian gods

Jeremiah 43 submits that God tells the prophet to "take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay...at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes..." Nebuchadnezzar, whom God calls his servant, "will set his throne upon these stones...the houses of the gods...shall he burn with fire."

About whom did Jeremiah prophesy when he revealed, "Thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon..."?

Menahem

Nadab

Zedekiah

Pekah

Jeremiah delivered God's message when Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and his army fought against Jerusalem. In his book, the prophet promises that God "will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire."

Genesis states: "Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs." Whose seed is mentioned here?

Abram

Moses

Jesus

Aaron

Genesis 2 offers that "a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness." During his slumber, Abram received God's message that his seed would be afflicted in the stranger's land for 400 years.

In Exodus, to whom does God say, "I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt"?

Aaron

Moses

Miriam

Jacob

God says this to Moses in Exodus, which recounts the story of the burning bush. Prior to divulging his ultimate mission for Moses, God informs him, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows."

In Ezekiel, God likens Israel to which of these "dross" elements?

Lead

Gold

Titanium

Mercury

God's message to Ezekiel is that, "The house of Israel is...become dross," worthless. God perceives the people as "brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver."

God speaks through Jeremiah to whom, when he mentions "the sword" that God promises to send, in Jeremiah 25?

Egypt

All the nations

Syria

Jerusalem

God orders Jeremiah to "take the wine cup of...fury" and "cause all the nations" to whom God sends "to drink it." Jeremiah relays God's message to the nations: "Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword" which God sends.

According to Ezekiel 20, whom did God promise to "purge out from among [Israel]"?

All prophets

Rebels and transgressors

Kings

Tax collectors

The prophet vows that God will rule over Israel "surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out..." Ezekiel continues God's words, saying, "I will purge out from among you rebels, and them that transgress against me."

For whom were these words meant: "Thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven"?

King Ahaziah

King Nebuchadnezzar

King Amon

King Herod

Daniel interprets the king's dream, which was primarily about "a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great." Daniel assures Nebuchadnezzar, "It is thou...that art grown and become strong..." A year later, the king was "driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen..."

"Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee." Joseph offered these words of clarity to whom?

Chief butler

Chief council

Chief baker

Court jester

While in prison, Joseph explained the dreams of a chief butler and chief baker who were in prison, also, for offending "their lord the king of Egypt." In Genesis, concerning the chief butler's dream, Joseph says that Pharaoh would restore him. And Joseph's words for the baker came to fruition.

Do you know the repeated word that is missing from Ezekiel's prophesy concerning the desolation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "They shall go out from one ________, and another ________ shall devour them"?

Fire

Lake

Whale

City

Because [the inhabitants of Jerusalem] have committed a trespass," God through Ezekiel promises that he "will set his face against them." Ezekiel elaborates: "As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem."

In Genesis, God says: "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." Which of these natural disasters did God use to fulfill the promise?

Flood

Tornado

Earthquake

Hurricane

In Genesis 6, God hastens Noah to make "an ark of gopher wood" for his family and "every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort..." God specifies his mode of destruction: "...I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life..."

What did God instruct Ezekiel to do when his prediction concerning a "sword out of his sheath" against Israel came to pass?

Translate

Faint

Sigh

Eat

Ezekiel's "prophesy against the land of Israel" promises to "cut off...the righteous and the wicked." God instructs Ezekiel to "sigh before [the] eyes" of the judged, when the prophesy "cometh, and shall be brought to pass."

Prophesy against King Belshazzar took written form on a wall, as "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN." What did these predictive words lead to?

Jesus's resurrection

Saul's conversion

Belshazzar's death

Joseph's imprisonment

The king requested golden vessels from the "house of God...at Jerusalem" to be used at his feast. As guests drank from the vessels,"fingers of a man's hand" wrote the prophetic words "upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace." Daniel clarified God's fatal warning against the errant king.

Sponsored Links

About HowStuffWorks Play

How much do you know about dinosaurs? What is an octane rating? And how do you use a proper noun? Lucky for you, HowStuffWorks Play is here to help. Our award-winning website offers reliable, easy-to-understand explanations about how the world works. From fun quizzes that bring joy to your day, to compelling photography and fascinating lists, HowStuffWorks Play offers something for everyone. Sometimes we explain how stuff works, other times, we ask you, but we’re always exploring in the name of fun! Because learning is fun, so stick with us!

Get smarter every day! Subscribe & get 1 quiz every week.

Playing quizzes is free! We send trivia questions and personality tests every week to your inbox. By
clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our
privacy policy and confirming that you are 13
years old or over.